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May 2 Now That Obama Boulevard is Officially a Thing, Here's How Los Angeles Plans to Celebrate

Los Angeles, CA -- On the 2018 Beyoncé-infused “Black Effect,” Jay-Z nonchalantly professed “I’m good on every MLK,” keenly aware that civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. has roads sprinkled throughout the country carrying his namesake. But on the flip side, our forever president Barack Obama—whose own iconic status wasn’t solidified until January 20, 2009—is understandably running a bit behind.

There are schools like the Barack and Michelle Obama Academy in Atlanta or Barack Obama Elementary School in Pine Lawn, Mo., but when it comes to street names, our 44th president can only lay claim to a handful.

Thankfully, Los Angeles will be adding to that tally on May 4, as Rodeo Road—not to be confused with the opulent Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills—will be renamed Obama Boulevard. Because after surviving eight years of Fox News onslaughts and a Republican-controlled House and Senate, this is the type of shit the first black president in the history of the United States deserves.

Here’s a sneak peak at what the street signs will look like:

Obama Boulevard is a 3.5-mile residential street located in the predominantly—and unapologetically—black neighborhoods of Baldwin Hills and south Los Angeles. And yes, it will intersect with King Boulevard to create the blackest intersection in the history of black ass intersections.

KTLA 5 reports that Obama Boulevard will further establish a “presidential row” that includes Washington, Adams and Jefferson boulevards.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, Councilman Herb Wesson will host a street festival on May 4 featuring food trucks, vendors, and music performances and appearances from Doug E. Fresh, 90's rapper Yo Yo—the unofficial ambassador of all things Los Angeles—BJ the Chicago Kid, and plenty more.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the name change was first suggested by Wesson in 2017. Included in his proposal was the often overlooked fact that Obama held a campaign rally at Rancho Cienega Sports Complex on Rodeo Road in 2007 during his presidential campaign and that the area already has streets named after presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Obama has yet to confirm his attendance for the ceremony, but trust and believe every black man, woman, child, cousin, auntie, grandpa and baby momma in Los Angeles will be partaking in the festivities.

In May 2019, British artist Chemical X’s art installation “Skid Rodeo Drive” highlighted the economic disparities in Los Angeles, where scores of homeless people live in tent communities not far from luxe enclaves like the famed Rodeo Drive. In the L.A. suburb of Pacoima, Calif., dozens of predominantly African American people are living in tents under the Ronald Reagan Freeway.Photo: Ari Perilstein (Getty Images for Chemical X)